Five Reasons to Plant Your First Garden This Spring!

Spring has sprung! With the arrival of this new season comes warm breezes, new blossoms, blue skies and… the necessity to maintain physical distance from other humans?! These new measures aren’t ideal for a picnic in the park, but there are plenty of other fun ways to embrace the extra free time you might have. Perhaps planting a garden might be up your alley! With the help of our wonderful student volunteers from the TREK program, we’ve put together five reasons to get your hands in the soil:

1) GET OUTDOORS AND LEARN NEW SKILLS

Gardening is a fantastic excuse to get outside... so get out there and load up on fresh air and mood-boosting Vitamin D! If you don’t have outdoor space, that’s no problem; windowsill gardens are easy to set up and maintain with a few basic supplies, and they can be just as successful - just ask the kids who have participated in our programs! There is so much to learn about this satisfying hands-on activity, and the best way to learn is to do. Having a young helper makes this activity all the more engaging. 

2) IMPROVE YOUR MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH

Have you been staring at a screen all day? If you’re looking for a reason to get up, clear your mind, and move your body, a trip to the garden might be in order. Did you know that contact with soil is thought to naturally raise serotonin levels - gardening can literally make people happier! So get up and bury your hands in the soil for a natural pick-me-up. 

3) GROW YOUR OWN FOOD

Is there anything more satisfying than eating a pea plucked fresh from the vine? Or fresh lettuce that you’ve watched grow? Not only do you know exactly what you’re eating and where it came from, but you’re ensuring you have healthy, chemical-free food at hand. Not to mention, the sense of pride that comes with being a little bit more self-sufficient!

4) HELP THE ENVIRONMENT

When you’re nurturing a garden, you’re creating urban greenspace that helps to clean the air we breathe and supports local pollinators! While beautifying your home and neighbourhood, you’ll also be making some bees and butterflies very happy. 

5) BUILD COMMUNITY

Whether you’re growing plants inside or outdoors, gardening is a great way to bond with neighbours and fellow hobby-ists. Gardens provide a lovely physical space to connect, and also a common talking point! There are many people who are happy to share tips and knowledge. 

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Are you ready to start your own garden? Our friends at West Coast Seeds and GardenWorks can help get you set up with some seeds and gardening equipment (delivered to your door). Happy growing!

TREK and the Community Action Project

Hey, we’re Fiona, Kate, Roko, and Jada. We’re from the TREK program at Prince of Wales Secondary School. TREK is an outdoor leadership program for grade 10 students. In TREK we are encouraged to take action in our community, which is what we’re doing with Growing Chefs! We are so excited to continue learning about local foods and cooking within the community.

Each Wednesday morning for the next six weeks, Growing Chefs! will host a small group of students from the TREK program. They will support our charity through a variety of volunteer tasks and activities, and in turn, we will provide fun, behind-the-scenes learning experiences about charities in general, and Growing Chefs!

We’ve asked these teens to share a little more about themselves:

What is your favourite vegetable? 

Fiona: Cucumbers

Kate: Carrots 

Roko: Bok Choy 

Jada: Cucumbers 

What was your first food memory? 

Fiona: Eating different meals that our homestay students would cook when they were staying with us.

Kate: Eating is multigrain toast from COBS that i would eat everyday from breakfast. 

Roko: Having large sandwiches that had ham, salami, turkey, bacon with mustard and lettuce in elementary school.

Jada: When I was younger and I remember the first time I was connected with food was when at age 6 I used to go berry picking with my mum and sister. 

What outdoor activity makes you feel connected to the planet? 

Fiona: The outdoor activity that connects me to the planet, is anything near the water- I've grown up swimming and also just enjoyed being outside. 

Kate: Every morning I can see the sun rising behind the mountains on my walk to school.  

Roko: Camping because it disconnects me from the online world.

Jada: Backcountry camping/backcountry camping because I feel at peace with myself and I enjoy being away from the world of social media so I feel more connected with our planet. I also love the accomplishment of being able to say I did the hike.

What family recipe makes you feel warm and fuzzy? 

Fiona: The family recipe that makes me feel warm and fuzzy is our Scottish Caramel Shortbread which my granny, my dad and I all make- it makes me feel connected to my roots.

Kate: Vaniljekranse is a Danish family recipe. I used to make them every Christmas with my mormor. The cookies are like rings and you make them with a meat grinder. They’re so yummy!!

Roko: My grandma's fried chicken and it's way better than KFC.

Jada: Every new years eve I help my mum make a traditional Dutch food called Oliebollen.

Growing Chefs! is Growing in Vancouver and Victoria. Join our team!

Do you want to support healthy, sustainable and just food practices and systems? Improve the health and nutrition of kids and youth? Make local, sustainable food accessible? Connect communities through food? If yes, then Growing Chefs! might be the place for you! 

What we offer:

• A supportive, collaborative, fun work environment

• Opportunity to develop, expand your skills

• A chance to make a difference in the food system

We are currently looking for two people to join our team: 

• In Victoria - Chef Educator (closing date: January 10, 2020)

• In Vancouver - Fundraising and Operational Assistant (closing date: January 15, 2020)

We will be conducting interviews as applications come in, so please don’t wait to submit. The positions may be filled before the closing dates.

At the root of our food system - Soil!

Today is World Soil Day! How often do you think about soil? We walk on it, dig in it, grow in it… but what do we really know about soil?

Healthy soil is not only important for plant growth and the future of our food systems. It also plays a key role in providing ecosystem services as well as is important in combating climate change, helping to trap carbon and keep it out of the atmosphere. Our soils are alive and vital to life on Earth but they are under threat.

We’re learning more about all things soil for World Soil Day and invite you to join us in learning more about why our soils are so important and how we can help protect them. Can you dig it?

The United Nations’ World Soil Day 2019 and its campaign "Stop soil erosion, Save our future" is a day to help to raise awareness on the importance of addressing the increasing challenges in soil management and raise the profile of healthy soil by encouraging governments, organizations, communities and individuals around the world to engage in proactively improving soil health.

As students in our program learn in their first Growing Chefs! lesson, soil is so much more than dirt. You can think of soil more like a body of water. A lake has fish, plants, micro-organisms, nutrients, water and so much more, a soil body is also a complex and interesting system containing soil, rocks, roots, animals, bacteria and other parts. And just like other ecosystems and organisms, soil systems provide a network of functions that are far greater than the sum of their parts.

Image from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations website - http://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/en/

Soil Quick Facts:

• There are more microorganisms in a teaspoon of healthy soil than there are people on the Earth!

• Soil is home to a quarter of all known species on Earth.

• Well managed soil can take tons of carbon out of the atmosphere and help reduce greenhouse gases combating climate change. Ten percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions stored in the soil.

• It can take up to 1,000 years to produce just 2-3cm of soil.

• Soil is alive, and therefore soil can die. Erosion and pollution of our soil systems are some of the biggest threats to healthy, thriving soil.

• Every 5 seconds the equivalent of one soccer pitch of soil is eroded.

Looking to learn more about soils?

1. For educators there are many connections that can be drawn to our soil systems in the classroom and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has put together a great soil activity booklet for kids to learn more about soil science.

2. Find out more about organizations working toward the preservation of our precious soils with this great list from Food Tank.

3. Find tons of great activities and lesson plans for kids at soils4teachers.org/home

4. No better way to learn more about soil than rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty!

Give the Gift of Gardens, Give the Gift of Growth

Did you see the lights? Last night, Science World glowed green for Growing Chefs! Tonight, on Giving Tuesday, BC Place is also going to be lit up green. When you see those lights, we hope you’re reminded of the hard work our chef volunteers put in to help kids’ connections to food take root.

Too many kids lack access to healthy, whole food or know where food comes from or how it’s grown. Growing Chefs! is on a mission to change that. Through our food literacy programs, delivered by teams of chef and community volunteers, we give kids and youth hands-on experience with the whole food cycle, from seed to plate to compost. 

Your donation this holiday season will help more BC kids build connections to the earth, local food systems, and with one another as they care for and harvest their gardens, and prepare and share meals together. We hope to raise $20,000 by the end of 2019.

A donation of:

• $500 is equivalent to the cost of all the gardening and cooking equipment for one class

• $200 is equivalent to the entire cost of the Classroom Gardening & Cooking Program for one student

• $150 is equivalent to soil, seeds, and all of the gardening equipment needed for one classroom garden

• $25 is equivalent to soil for one classroom garden

Giving Now Means Giving More!

Local businesses Houweling’s, Lyra Growth Partners, and Shauna Gold Personal Real Estate Corporation have committed to doubling donations* (including the annual pledged donation amounts for new Champion Radish Club monthly donors) between December 3 – December 31, 2019.

What’s the Champion Radish Club?

We’re so glad you asked. Our monthly donors make up the Champion Radish Club. Your monthly gift will provide a consistent, reliable, and predictable source of funding. This sustainability allows us to plan ahead and implement our hands-on programs more efficiently. It also lowers administrative costs.

Why choose monthly giving?

• Your gift is easy, secure, and green—a monthly donation saves paper, postage, and energy!

• You ensure your gift has the greatest possible impact!

• You will get special updates from the classroom from our participating students!

• You will get exclusive event invites to special events like the Affogato Affair and Beer, Bread & Butter!

• You get to be a Champion Radish (A most delicious type of radish!)

Donation commitments can be made online using a credit card (via Canada Helps) between December 3 and December 31, 2019 to be eligible for matching.

For more information, or to make a matching commitment from your business: contact Jaydeen Williams, Development & Communications Director, jaydeen@growingchefs.ca or 604-710-1677.

* up to a maximum determined by corporate #GivingTuesday donations

THANK YOU to our Giving Tuesday partners:

Meet Brad Bodnarchuk of Half a Dozen Hospitality!

Growing Chefs! relies on so many individuals who contribute their time and money to ensure children have access to our programs. In Brad Bodnarchuk’s case, he contributes both, and more! Brad, of Half a Dozen Hospitality, is a restaurant consultant, podcast host, father, and jack-of-all-trades. Between the hours he spends with our program teaching kids about yummy vegetables and healthy food systems, and organizing delicious fundraisers to benefit our charity and others, we are humbled by his ongoing support of our mission and organization. Here’s your chance to get to know Brad!

What about Growing Chefs! resonates with you? 

I’ve always been super intrigued by food and people, so right off the bat, this program fulfills that for me. Taking this another step further, I truly love having the ability to work with and teach children. As a father myself, I take a ton of pride in sharing what I know about food with my daughter; it has been the same with the kids I’ve been lucky enough to interact with at Growing Chefs! Giving back to the community and helping share my passion for food with these kids has grown my passion for food even further. 

What is your favourite Growing Chefs! lesson? 

That is a really tough one, since each lesson seems to have it’s own unique and special memory attached to it. If I had to pick one, it would have to be the first lesson when we help the kids plant seeds in the soil. There is something so cool and symbolic about that process and seeing how engaged the kids are with this lesson makes it really special. I feel that showing them how easy it is to do something such as growing peas or lettuce opens their eyes to the real possibilities of fresh and healthy food.

Do you have a garden at home? 

We are so lucky to have some great outdoor space in East Vancouver that gets a ton of natural morning and afternoon sun that has helped us to grow herbs, lettuces, tomatoes, strawberries, and blueberries. It is a true luxury in the summer months to be able to hop outside to harvest some of your very own food that you planted just weeks before.

What's your favourite vegetable? 

Easily the potato. So many different types that you can prepare in so many different ways. I don’t think I will ever get sick of potatoes. 

What's your favourite seasonal recipe? 

Seeing as it’s November at the moment, you can still get some pretty spectacular local beets. I am a sucker for what I call a Beet Poke Salad. Essentially, you are replacing the raw fish you would traditionally see in a Poke bowl with roasted beets! The flavours are incredible and it is probably one of my favourite dishes to make guests whenever we host a dinner - it’s usually a hit. 

Earlier this year your business, Half a Dozen Hospitality, hosted a dinner to benefit Growing Chefs! Tell us a little more about the dinner and/or the work you do? 

That dinner was such a great time! Admittedly, I had no real idea how it was going to turn out. At the time, the Half A Dozen Hospitality Dinner Series had never been done before so our Growing Chefs! dinner was the first of its kind. The premise for the dinners is pretty simple: we pair a local chef with a local farm, and host anywhere between 40 - 60 people for an incredible 6-course meal. The idea came to me as I was lying in bed one night! I thought about creating a platform to connect the awesome people I consult with in the hospitality industry with the community on more positively impactful level. I decided to commit to executing 6 dinners throughout 2019 - basically one every 8 weeks - and see how much money we could raise for different local charities. With each dinner, we take all of the profits and donate them to a local charity that has a food component to their program. Growing Chefs! was a natural fit for our first ever dinner, and we hope to work with you again in 2020. 

Anything else you'd like to share? 

Honestly, I’ve just been really impressed with the kids and their willingness to try almost anything… and also, really eating their vegetables! For me, growing up I wasn’t nearly as adventurous, nor did I want to eat a plate of vegetables, but these kids are asking for seconds and thirds! I think this is so great and is going to serve them well as they grow. 

To anyone that has the time and the ability to volunteer to help Growing Chefs! or a program like it, I would strongly advise you do it. You will learn more about your community than ever before and you will, no doubt, take so much joy from seeing the smiling faces of the people that you have had such a positive impact on.

Brad, thank you so much for your time, passion for food, and great ideas! We can’t wait to work with you more in 2020!

Our classes are cooking!

It is our fifth year of delivering our Intermediate fall Classroom Gardening and Cooking Program in the Metro Vancouver area and our first ever year bringing our fall program to Victoria.

This fall, thanks to our amazing team of 75 chef volunteers, we were able to reach over 450 kids in 21 schools:

• 18 Metro Vancouver schools

• three Victoria schools

Our program is very nearly complete, but here’s a sneak peek into what these classes have been up to:

Students are thrilled to meet the chefs when we first arrive in the classroom. The chefs tell them together we will be planting seeds, tasting new foods, and doing some cooking all right in their classroom.

Our lessons begin with students tasting fresh herbs and then designing their own science experiments to learn more about how plants grow. There is a shuffling in each classroom as students eagerly gather into groups, each led by a chef, where they thoughtfully discuss what plants need to grow and how to design their experiment, all while still munching on fresh dill, basil, and mint leaves. Some beans are planted in pots that get full sun while others are hidden away in a cupboard. Some are watered daily while others watered only once a week, and some not at all. Some plants are spoken too, some are sung to, some are watered with sugar water, some have salt or food dye added to their regular water… all experiments designed by students eager to see what happens as their plants grow.

Of course, not everything can be grown all year round, which means the fall is the perfect time to talk about local food, seasonal eating, food miles, and food preservation methods. Our amazing volunteer teams brought in some great examples from their kitchens of foods they preserve. After, our students got to roll up their sleeves and give it a try themselves preparing their own pickled vegetables right in the classroom.

In just a week’s time, we are able to enjoy our delicious pickles as a part fo our healthy snack lesson where students learn about the new Canada Food Guide and explore the artistic side of the culinary arts creating beautiful little canapé snacks, that also happen to be healthy!

Throughout the program, students have been learning recipe planning, flavour profiles, and plating all while practicing their knife and kitchen skills. At the fifth lesson, students’ faces light up as the chefs explain to them that today they will be putting all these skills together to work in teams and design their very own stir fry recipe, which they will be responsible for prepping, cooking, and plating next lesson. The students get right to work in their groups to carefully design and layout their recipes, trying out different flavour combinations of the various vegetables, sauces, herbs, and seasonings the chefs have brought them.

What tasty creations will these young chefs come up with?! We’ll just have to wait and see at our stir fry cooking showcase in the classroom next week!

Meet Vivian!

This year Growing Chefs! has been fortunate enough to have three amazing UBC students from the Land and Food Systems program to join us for our fall program. These passionate students have been helping out in the office, as well as working with our volunteer teams in our participating classrooms to deliver hands-on gardening and cooking lessons. We’d like to introduce you to one of these UBC students, Vivian!

Hello! My name is Vivian and I am working with Growing Chefs! this semester as one of the student interns from UBC! I am currently studying Food, Nutrition and Health, with a minor in Psychology. Growing up, I have always been intrigued by how food can bring us together regardless of gender, age, cultural backgrounds and even personal experiences.

Last year, I had the opportunity to study abroad at the University of Auckland, where I met students from all parts of the world. As an introvert who didn’t know anyone in New Zealand, it was definitely nerve-wracking at first. Despite my worries, however, I was quickly able to settle in and meet some very close friends. One of my favourite memories was when my flatmate’s family visited from Norway and cooked our entire flat a full meal! We spent the entire night learning about our different cultures and connecting over good food. 

I love working with kids and I love food; so naturally, this was the perfect placement opportunity for me! What better way to combine two things I’m passionate about than to work with Growing Chefs!? It is so important to educate young children about our food system, especially in regards to where our food comes from and how it gets to our plates. In this day and age, where we have become disconnected with the origins of our food, we can help reconnect the younger generation (and hopefully ourselves!) by bringing gardening and cooking into classrooms.

When I’m not busy with school or work, I love travelling and learning about different cultures. In the summer, you can definitely find me on the scenic route, making road trips around the country! I also enjoy baking occasionally and have recently started picking up photography again after a long hiatus. 

I am excited to be joining the Growing Chefs! team this semester and I look forward to learning alongside the team and the students we will be working with!

Whole Foods Market: Supporting Growing Chefs! for ten years!

Whole Foods Market has been supporting Growing Chefs! since 2009 and tomorrow, their generosity stretches province-wide! All seven British Columbia locations of Whole Foods Market will generously donate 5% of net sales from the entire day to support our Classroom Gardening and Cooking program. Happy shopping!

P.S. This old Whole Foods Market feature post may look vintage on our old blog, but it’s worth checking out!

From Farms to Forks 10: Thank You

On October 6th, we hosted our 10th annual From Farms to Forks harvest kitchen party at Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. Our guests wandered from kitchen to kitchen to watch chefs in action, meet growers, and enjoy delicious tasting plates - each paired with a different wine from Mission Hill Family Estate.

Click here to relive the menu and the pairings!

More photos to come soon!

Photo Credit: Kai Mallari

From Farms to Forks is Growing Chefs’ biggest fundraising event of the year and we hoped to raise $70,000 this year to support our 2019/2020 Classroom Gardening & Cooking Program. Our supporters helped us to exceed our goals and expectations and together, we raised:

Over $84,000!

Each year, our founder and chair of the board, Merri Schwartz, writes and reads a thank you poem at the event. This is From Farms to Forks 10:

Gather ‘round guests, we’ve some thanks to attend to,

Don’t fret! They’ll be brief! Off to eat we’ll soon send you.

First, thanks to you for attending tonight,

To see you all here is a most welcome sight.

Thanks PICA, for hosting us each year with grace,

Our event would not work save your most special space.

Chef Marc, Yves and Sylvia, Jen, and the rest,

Our most sincere thanks. You are simply the best!

Our Silver Thyme Sponsors: Whole Foods! Mission Hill!

Bushel Sponsors, the thanks in our cups will soon spill…

… Over! For there are so many to thank,

Farmers, chefs, restaurants, your work fuels our tank.

The farmers whose toil and whose gifts make us grateful,

The chefs who create and bring magic to table.

The classic bar duo you’ve all come to adore,

Dear Ange and dear David, now go forth and pour!

Growing Chefs! staff, you know truly no bounds,

The work you put into this simply astounds.

Thanks Board of Directors, you shape our vision,

Thanks for attending and for all you’ve given.

50 volunteers came to help us this evening,

The effortlessness of it all is deceiving!

On bar and on wine, on auction and door,

On service, on fundraising, and still there’s more!

Robbyn—you’ve swooped in to save us as always,

You nail it each time, please accept our praise!

Dear Fred and Margaret, we thank you each year,

And each time, like angel emcees you appear.

Peter Blitz for the sound and the mic in my hands,

Stania and Devi, your ticket-selling record still stands!

For the many supporters among us right now,

Adopt-a-classroom donors, please take a bow.

CIBC, Whole Foods, Telus, SVP, SpencerCreo, 

Les Dames, Christopher Family Foundation, we’re all such big fans.

Our Champion Radishes—29 here this evening,

All auction donors whose items you’re scheming…

… To win! Go ahead, take a look, place your bids,

Thanks our young growing chefs representing the kids,

Artona, your patience is truly abounding,

Thanks for the printing, our thanks is resounding.

Bella Wines for the sparkling and Fiodesigns for… design!

We’ve mentioned Mission Hill, but thank god for wine.

And beer! Thanks for beer, too. From Fuggles & Warlocks,

And cocktails. Long Table will knock off your socks.

More beer still, Strange Fellows, and Phillips the soda,

You ensure that refreshment will exceed our quota.

Thanks Terra, like many, you’ve been with us for years,

Edible and Scout ensured our event reached your ears.

Grounds for Coffee, we thank you.

Hives for Humanity, merci.

Mahalo, Mavreen David, Kai Mallari, and Leila Kwok Photography.

For cheese, we say danke, to our friends at Les Amis.

Mink Chocolates, grazie, for answering our call,

Namasthé, we’d say thanks but your name says it all. (ha!)

From Pedersen’s the rentals, our annual set,

For our sweet raffle prize, let’s not miss WestJet.

And lastly, let’s cheer for a decade of this! 

You’ve made From Farms to Forks an event not to miss.